1. Field of the Invention
This document relates to a plasma display apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
z A plasma display apparatus comprises a plasma display panel for displaying an image and a driver for driving the plasma display panel.
FIG. 1 illustrates a structure of a plasma display panel. As shown in FIG. 1, the plasma display panel comprises a front panel 10 and a rear panel 11. The front panel 10 comprises a front glass substrate 100 and the rear panel 11 comprises a rear glass substrate 110.
A scan electrode 101 and a sustain electrode 102 for maintaining emissions of cells through a mutual discharge therebetween are formed on the front glass substrate 100. The scan electrode 101 and the sustain electrode 102 each comprise transparent electrodes 101a and 102a made of a transparent indium-tin-oxide (ITO) material, and bus electrodes 101b and 102b made of a metal material. A scan signal for scan of the plasma display panel and a sustain signal for discharge maintenance of the plasma display panel are supplied to the scan electrode 101. A maintenance signal is mainly supplied to the sustain electrode 102. An upper dielectric layer 103 is formed on upper parts of the scan electrode 101 and the sustain electrode 102 to limit a discharge current and to provide insulation between the scan electrode 101 and the sustain electrode 102. A protective layer 104 with a deposit of MgO is formed on an upper surface of the upper dielectric layer 103 to facilitate discharge conditions.
Address electrodes 112 are formed on the rear glass substrate 110 to intersect the scan electrode 101 and the sustain electrode 102. A lower dielectric layer 114 is formed on an upper part of the address electrode 112 to provide insulation between the address electrodes 113. Barrier ribs 111 are formed on the lower dielectric layer 114 to form discharge cells. A phosphor layer 113 is coated between the barrier ribs 111 to emit visible light.
A plasma display apparatus comprises a data driver for driving the address electrode 112. The data driver supply a data signal corresponding to an image signal to the address electrode 112. The data driver comprises a data drive integrated circuit (IC) for generating the data signal. The data drive IC is included in a film type element such as a tape carrier package (TCP) or a chip-on-film (COF).
FIG. 2 illustrates a data drive IC of a plasma display apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, the data drive IC of the plasma display apparatus receives an image signal through an input terminal 210, and supplies a data signal corresponding to the image signal to the address electrode 112 of FIG. 1 through an output terminal 220. The input terminal 210 of the data drive IC is formed at one side of the data drive IC, and the output terminal 220 of the data drive IC is formed at the other side opposite one side of the data drive IC. A formation direction of the output terminal 220 of the data drive IC is substantially parallel to a formation direction of the address electrode 112 of FIG. 1.
As the plasma display apparatus supports full high definition (HD), the number of output terminals formed on one data drive IC increases. Since the number of output terminals increases, the length and the size of the data drive IC increase. When the size of the data drive IC increases, the size of the film-type element increases. Accordingly, the manufacturing cost of the data drive IC or the manufacturing cost of the film-type element increases, and the manufacturing cost of the plasma display apparatus increases.
In FIG. 2, a reference numeral 230 denotes a power terminal. A data voltage for forming a maximum voltage of the data signal is input to the power terminal 230. Further, a reference numeral 240 denotes a ground terminal. A ground level voltage for forming a ground level of the data signal is input to the ground terminal 240.